


20 Minutes Into Baker Street

by ElegantButler



Category: Doctor Who, Max Headroom - Fandom, Sherlock - Fandom
Genre: Gen, Mentions of Violence, Mystery, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-02
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-03-12 16:44:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13551450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElegantButler/pseuds/ElegantButler
Summary: Seeking shelter from the rain, Bryce Lynch unwittingly steps into the TARDIS and into an unexpected adventure.





	1. Chapter 1

Title: 20 Minutes into Baker Street  
Max Headroom/Doctor Who/Sherlock  
Author: ElegantButler

 

CHAPTER 01

As the rain fell upon the streets of London, a boy of sixteen ran towards a cluster of skyscrapers that dominated the evening sky.

Bryce Lynch had been attending a science convention both as an attendee and as a guest speaker. He had given a dissertation on the destabilization of the human attention span and its importance to television ratings. It had gone over fairly well. He only wished the weather was better

As he ran, getting more soaked by the moment, he saw an old style blue police box standing on a corner. Well, it was just as good a place as any to wait out the downpour. So without hesitation, he opened the door and stepped in.

He blinked and considered rechecking the box's exterior. No, dammit! He knew what he saw. It was too wet anyhow to go back outside.

"We have a guest, Sweetie," a woman with tousled blond curls told a man in a tweed jacket.

The tweed man turned and smiled.

"Oh, hello," he said brightly. "I'm the Doctor. Welcome to the TARDIS. Not sure why she let you in. But it must be a good reason. Don't you agree, River?"

"I just came in to dodge the rain," Bryce told them. "I'll be out of your hair shortly."  
There was a wheezing noise and the machinery at the centre of the room came to life.

"Looks like you'll be with us for a bit," River told him.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 02

20 Minutes into Baker Street  
[Author's notes: this uses Holmes and Watson from the Sherlock series, but during the classic Holmes era]

"Well," said the Doctor once the noise and machinery had stopped, "shall we see where we are?"

River slid a control and the door opened.

"Aw, don't spoil my fun," the Doctor mock-sulked.

"What do you mean 'where we are'?" Bryce question. "How can we be somewhere else. Okay, I accept that you appear to have mastered transquasidimensional physics but..."

"Hm," River smirked at the Doctor. "Sounds to me like someone who might understand you." She turned to Bryce. "Of course he'll probably tell you it's a bunch of timey wimey stuff."

"River!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"Time?!" Bryce cried out. "You mean we traveled in time also?"

"Sure," the Doctor stretched out his arm like a genial ringmaster. "Shall we explore?"

Bryce shrugged. "Why not?"

The trio stepped out of the TARDIS and into the midday streets of an older London.

As they walked along, Bryce looked around and noticed a distinct lack of skyscrapers and television sets.

"We really have traveled in time," he whispered. "It's hard to believe there was an era where television didn't dominate people's lives."

"If it did," the Doctor said, picking up a newspaper, "here's what your headline would be."

The newspaper was dated Friday Evening November 9 1888.

"Almost a hundred years before I was born," Bryce mentioned casually before scanning the headline.

"Jack the Ripper?"

"An interesting and most baffling case. Wouldn't you agree, Dr. Watson."  
Bryce looked up at the two new arrivals.

The man who had spoken looked Bryce over cautiously. "Curious," he noted. "Not of the Nobility. But not a commoner, either. Note the cleanliness and lack of wear on the hands, save for the pads of the fingers."

"Perhaps he is a typist, Holmes?" Watson made a guess.

"Perhaps," Holmes did not seem convinced. "But notice the lack of typing fluid residue on the fingers. Typewriter keys almost always get jammed. And we can determine based on his age, which I estimate to be no more than sixteen, that our new acquaintance does not play piano in the local establishment. A curious individual indeed."

"So, who is he?" Watson asked.

"Bryce Lynch," was the only answer Bryce gave. If this was, indeed, the legendary Sherlock Holmes, Bryce was going enjoy watching him go through his deductions.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At 221b Baker Street, Bryce gives Holmes a teaser of things to come.

CHAPTER 03

“Confound it, Holmes! You still haven’t told me who these people are,” Watson admonished as they made their way back to 221b Baker Street. “Don’t you think you should find out more about them first?”

“Oh, I know all about them,” Holmes confided. 

“Who are they, then?” Watson asked, curious.

“It’s not a matter of who, Watson,” Holmes explained. “It’s a matter of when. You see, I believe that these three are not from our time.”

“Not from…! Holmes that’s absurd!” Watson told his friend and colleague. “I think you’ve been enjoying some of your recreational habits a bit too much of late.”

“Not at all, my good fellow,” Holmes assured Watson. “You remember my hypothesis. Once you’ve eliminated all logical explanations, whatever is left, no matter how illogical must be the truth.”

“But time travel!” Watson shook his head. “It can’t be!”

“Oh, he’s perfectly right,” the Doctor said, with a smile. “If you’re interested, I’d be delighted to show you the TARDIS.”

“Oh, I’m very interested,” Holmes admitted. “But I’m afraid Dr. Watson is right. I’d need to know more about you before I head off to who-knows-when. Tell me,” he addressed Bryce. “How did you come to be here with them? For I have the feeling that you came into this adventure long after they did.”

“I was trying to get out of the rain. I saw what I thought was an antique police box and stepped inside.” Bryce explained. “That’s all I’m going to say.” He had no intention of ruining Holmes’ surprise at seeing the TARDIS interior for the first time. After all, nobody had warned him about it.

The Doctor and River exchanged looks and nodded their thankfulness to Bryce. They loved the reactions of their first time visitors.

Stopping at 221b Baker Street, Holmes opened the door and stepped inside, bidding his guests in with a grand gesture.

“You’ll have to excuse the smell,” Watson apologized, “Holmes has a habit of smoking when he’s thinking. I really do wish he’d leave the window open.”

 

“Ship’s tobacco,” Bryce noted.

“Excellent!” Holmes said, cheerily. “However did you know?”

“I once attended a class where we observed the various reactions to tobacco smells in mice. The idea was to try and use low amounts of tobacco scent as rodent repellents to drive them away from TV wiring in the Fringes. None of them really worked. In fact, the mice became addicted to the stuff they flew in from Belgium.”

“I assume that it didn’t work,” Holmes observed.

“No,” Bryce admitted. “Many of our plant-based experiments failed quite miserably. I suppose it was due to the fact that by the time I was in college, most of the plant life, at least in our city, was pretty much gone.”

“College!” Watson exclaimed. “But you can’t be more than sixteen!”

“I graduated at the age of twelve.” Bryce told them. “After that I began working at Network 23.”

“Wait, wait a minute,” Watson said. “You said TV. What does that mean?”

“Television,” Bryce explained. “It’s a method of communication and entertainment. I suppose you’d refer to it as little pictures that are sent through the sky from one place to another.”

“No doubt transmitted through some kind of wire,” Holmes observed.

“Originally, yes,” Bryce confirmed. “But that eventually got really messy, so we learned to bounce the signals off of satellites in space.”

“Oh, hogwash!” Watson scoffed. “Look, if these people are from elsewhere, then I accept for the moment that maybe they have the means to travel in time. Not that I’m sure I believe in such things. But I find it hard to believe that mankind can come up with a contraption that allows them to fling pictures into space.”

“Well, Watson,” Holmes said. “That’s something we’ll just have to learn for ourselves.”


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 04

The TARDIS was met with looks of skepticism from Watson and curiosity from Holmes.

“You can’t expect us to believe that you came here in a box,” Watson said, pointedly. “There is no way two people can fit in that thing, never mind three. And you certainly can’t expect all five of us to fit. Come, Holmes. This is obviously a prank of some kind.”

He moved to pull Holmes away, but the intrepid detective had other plans in mind. 

“Let’s not be hasty, Watson,” he suggested. “Let us explore this box and find out what lurks within.”

“Not much, I’ll wager,” Watson complained. “But if you must. Why not? I have a few seconds to spare. And I doubt it will take much longer than that.”

Holmes disappeared into the TARDIS, followed by the Doctor, River, and Bryce.

Watson waited. How were they all fitting in there? Surely they couldn’t keep up the ruse for long? It must be nearly suffocating in there with all the body heat being generated.

After some time, Holmes emerged, looking somewhat annoyed.

“Come on, Watson,” he said. “Where’s your adventurous spirit? Come and join us. There’s plenty of room, and more to spare.”

And before Watson could protest, Holmes had him by the lapel and was tugging him into the blue box.

“Remarkable, wouldn’t you say, Watson?” Holmes asked, while his friend took in the oddity of the TARDIS interior.

“Uh…” Watson managed, lamely.

“Welcome to the TARDIS,” the Doctor said cheerily. “Short for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space.”

“It’s remarkable,” Watson finally managed.

“So,” Holmes asked, “where are we headed to?”

“You mean this thing moves as well?” Watson was astonished.

“In many ways, I imagine,” Holmes guessed.

“Indeed it does,” the Doctor said as the noise which had been going on for several seconds began to escalate. 

“Gentlemen,” River pointed out. “In case you were wondering what that racket is,” she raised her voice to be heard over said racket. “It appears someone is trying to chop down the TARDIS with an axe.”

“Well, folks,” the Doctor announced. “That sounds like our cue to depart.”

The Doctor moved a few controls on the TARDIS console, leaving behind a very confused axeman who stood there, leaning on his axe and scratching his head.


End file.
